Anyway, New Orleans. Surprisingly dull IMO. I tend to be there quite often (finance associations put conferences there all the time). For music, I usually end up here:http://www.maisonbourbon.com/A tourist trap, but pretty much one of the only jazz places on Bourbon.

Jackson Square is a nice thing to see. Some nice parks (Audubon).Steamboat ride (though this is a very passive experience).

Nuge wrote:Anyone here been to Seattle? I may be out there for a few days in May and am in the initial stage of looking into things to do.

Ran a marathon there in June a few years ago and spent two days in the area. Pike Place Market, EMP museum, dinner in the Space Needle, Mariners baseball game. Then there are the surrounding mountains. Great city and beautiful part of the country.

Rylan, it doesn't matter where you go... it matters what you do. For my money, there's nothing getting out of a trip overseas if you don't get down with the locals. Go where your interests lie. Find Europe compelling? Paris, Vienna, and/or Munich are hard to beat. That's what floated my boat when I set sail. Wherever you go, tho', make sure you get to know the place. I travelled with some folks who went 3,000 miles just to eat at McDonalds and go to nightclubs they could've gone to in any podunk Yank small town or even New York City. Meet people. Stay with them. Eat their food. Learn their customs. Greatest learning experience of my life was travelling overseas and breaking the bonds of my own cultural experiences. Don't stay in "hotels"; stay in bed & breakfasts, hostels, and pensions. Don't eat at chains; look for the places the locals go to. Do hit the tourist destinations, but make sure you also get off the beaten path. My best cultural experiences were not at the Louvre; they were in meeting up with a few Parisians, buying a bagette and a hunk of cheese, and hanging out in a park all night, speaking broken, drunken English back and forth and learning about each other.

obhave wrote:Just had the best gluten-free pizza of my life. Italians know how to do it right.

The biggest thing I noticed when I was over there was that ALL of their food was made fresh. None of this frozen tossed in the microwave stuff.

It's amazing. I have tried to avoid all tourist traps for dinner and it has worked out really well taste/price wise. Basically just living on fruit for breakfast/lunch though. I'm on a journey for an apparently amazing gf bakery after the Vatican on Monday, so excited.

Berlin is next. Advice from anyone of good places to go and things to do?